Out of 26 million Texans, you may have an idea to change the world. You may have had several ideas to change the world. But only a tiny minority of you pushed through the U.S. Patent office from application to successful patent. We've seen Texans change the world many times over. Jack Kilby did it with Texas Instruments in 1958 with the integrated circuit, causing the start of the digital revolution, which, in part, is why you can read these words over your electronic device.
Over the last few years, Texas Business has brought its feature: Texas Business Patent of the Day. This list is of the ones that were either extremely clever, odd or strange. One thing becomes apparent from these patents and the patent that runs daily in Texas Business—Texans have a unique mind set.
Though the history of the Corn Dog is disputed, the State Fair of Texas claims to have introduced the Corny Dog sometime between 1938 and 1942. As a paean to that invention that now sits in the freezer section of every grocery store in the southwest, here are the fried foods the State Fair of Texas has introduced, or tried to introduce, in the last seven years.
Dead Texas musicians live on every time you hear their songs. Their songs play everywhere, so the dead Texas musicians appear to be immortal. Here's the short list.
Don't get caught up with John Wayne religion. For one thing, he's not Texan. He's in some fine movies involving Texas, most notably The Searchers, but none of his movies can make the best cut of Texas movies. Here's the short list.
Unsung Texas Business Journalists Mention that one is a reporter, and there's a spark of interest. Mention that one is a business news reporter, and watch the eyes glaze over. Except to the players, business and economic journalists are unappreciated. While many wish to become sports reporters when they grow up, most do not realize that business journalists cover the Real Game. Mention that reporter covers business, and watch the eyes glaze over. A toast to these below on the short list and the numerous unnamed ones slogging away. Full Story » TexasBusiness.com
Best Texas Mexican Food: The Short List No, we're not going to debate the difference between Tex-Mex, Mex-Tex, Mexican and Texican food. Just know these establishments are the pinnacle of Texas Mexican fare. No brag, just fact. Full Story » TexasBusiness.com
Best Texas Burgers Texas Burgers. . While a hamburger is merely sustenance and gratification for a meal, the memory a good Texas burger can give rise to Homeric odes. The short list. Full Story » TexasBusiness.com
Texas Business reports: Dallas—In a reverse of a California-to-Texas migration, one Texas firm is relocating its corporate office to California.
Green Automotive Company Corporation completed the relocation of its corporate office from Dallas to Newport Beach, California, and initiated plans for other facilities.
Following the company’s announcement in February that the Company intended to relocate its headquarters to Southern California and take other action to move its regional office in Dallas, Texas, establish a distribution center near its new corporate headquarters, and open representative offices in Shanghai and the Middle East, Green Automotive president Fred Luke, said “almost all of our planned re-structuring is now done or about to be competed in within the next 30 days.”
“Our new corporate headquarters has been relocated to 23 Corporate Plaza, Suite 150, Newport Beach, California 92660 and our new southwest regional office has been moved to 720 Valley Ridge, Suite 5, Lewisville, Texas 75057,” Luke said in a prepared statement
“However, while our proposal to acquire the operations of StarPoint USA Inc. remains open we are holding off on picking the exact location of our proposed distribution center, but it will likely be in the Long Beach or southern Los Angeles area,” Luke said. “We are currently working closely with StarPoint and utilizing, as necessary, its existing warehouse and offices, located in the south Los Angeles area, a short distance from the Port of Long Beach. I am hopeful that the StarPoint Board approves our proposal, as it would serve to speed-up the company’s development of its national vehicle distribution operations by preventing us from having to build from scratch a vehicle distribution, warranty administration, parts tracking and retail dealership information system, as StarPoint already has a system in use with its existing 300 plus retail dealership network: an operational structure which has operated for many years in the U.S. market importing, distributing and supporting over 185,000 vehicles manufactured in Asia.”
According to Luke, Long Beach will likely be the port of entry for the company’s vehicles and parts coming in from China, making the Los Angeles area an “ideal” location for national distribution operations.
“It is also important to note that California represents the largest and most promising market for electric vehicles,” Luke said. “So it becomes logistically convenient for our management team and most of our directors to have our corporate headquarters in Orange County, with distribution facilities near the Port of Long Beach, as it creates a more efficient operational structure.”
The relocation of the company’s Dallas office to Lewisville gives it an opportunity to convert limited executive space to a larger facility that will serve as a regional operations office, focused on retail dealership sales, parts and service for the southwest region. The company also is locating office space in Shanghai, China for the company’s China-based personnel employed to liaise with manufacturing operations to ensure vehicle production quality and to oversee the export of vehicles to the U.S. The firm also is considering opening a representative office in Qatar to service Middle-Eastern interests.
Green Automotive Company Corporation is a U.S. public company involved in the import and distribution of “eco-friendly” vehicles in the U.S. The company has an exclusive importer/distributor agreement to market the All-Electric SUV and MPV vehicles throughout the United States.
The Texas News Scrawl is a handy reference to stories Texas Business recommends from other news sources. Some of the stories that Texas Business currently suggests include: The West News proves the value of a great weekly newspaper in a community torn up with grief and chaos; Chinese investors checking out Texas, Austin; Texas makes bounce house operators carry liability coverage, but not plants like West Fertilizer; bSpaceX’s Grasshopper leaping to NM spaceport;American Airlines, US Airways to name post-merger leadership within weeks; Texas power cushion seen at lowest level in a decade; Media outlets reflect Houston's diversity; and more.